A fabric tissue pouch is one of the most underrated beginner sewing projects around. It costs almost nothing to make, uses up short cuts and scraps that would otherwise sit idle, and it's genuinely practical. Standard pocket tissues fit inside without any fuss, and the finished pouch slips easily into a handbag, nappy bag, or school bag. If you're after a quick project that sells well at markets or makes a thoughtful handmade gift, this one delivers every time.
What you'll need
The materials list is short. You need one fabric rectangle measuring 24 cm x 20 cm for the outer shell and one rectangle the same size for the lining. That's it for fabric. A piece cut from a scrap pile works perfectly here. You'll also need matching thread, an iron, and basic sewing pins or clips. No zip. No interfacing. No special tools required.
Choose a fabric that has a little body to it. Quilting cotton is the classic choice for the outer shell because it holds its shape and prints beautifully. For the lining, a plain cotton in a coordinating colour keeps the inside clean and professional. If you're using a digitally printed fabric for the outer shell, make sure the print is positioned the right way up before you cut. It sounds obvious, but it's easy to miss on a busy design.
Cutting and preparing your fabric
Cut both rectangles to 24 cm x 20 cm. Press each piece flat with a dry iron before you start sewing. Skipping this step is one of the small habits that separates a crisp finish from a puckered one. If your fabric has a directional print, double-check the orientation now rather than after you've sewn the whole thing together. Directional fabric prints need a little extra attention at the cutting stage to ensure the design reads correctly in the finished piece.
Sewing the pouch
Place your outer fabric and lining fabric together with right sides facing. Pin or clip around all four edges. Sew around the perimeter with a 1 cm seam allowance, leaving a gap of about 6 cm along one of the short ends. This gap is your turning gap, so don't skip it.
Clip the four corners diagonally, close to but not through the stitching. This reduces bulk when you turn the pouch right side out and gives you a sharp corner rather than a rounded one. Turn the pouch right side out through the gap, push the corners out gently with a blunt tool or the tip of a knitting needle, and press the whole thing flat with your iron. Tuck the raw edges of the gap inward and press them too.
Topstitch around the entire perimeter at about 2 mm from the edge. This closes the gap, adds a neat decorative line, and strengthens the seam. One continuous line of topstitching at a steady pace gives you the cleanest result. Use thread that matches your outer fabric so the stitching disappears into the design.
Folding the pouch into shape
With the outer fabric facing down, fold the rectangle into thirds lengthways. The two short ends fold in toward the centre, overlapping slightly in the middle. Standard pocket tissues (the 10-pack rectangular kind) slide in through the overlapping opening in the centre. No closure needed. The overlap keeps everything tidy.
Press the folds firmly with your iron to set the shape. If you want to hold the folds permanently, you can stitch a small bartack at each side seam where the folded layers meet. It takes about 20 seconds and means the pouch keeps its structure even after repeated use and washing.
Sizing variations worth knowing
The 24 cm x 20 cm rectangle fits a standard Australian pocket tissue pack comfortably. If you're using a different tissue brand, measure the pack flat and add 3 cm to each dimension to account for seam allowances and ease. Some sewists prefer a slightly tighter fit, particularly for travel pouches that live in small bags. Reducing the width by 1 cm achieves that without changing the overall method.
For a gift set, sew 3 pouches in coordinating fabrics from the same print family and stack them together. It's one of those small bundles that looks far more considered than the effort involved. If you're making these for a market stall, pre-loading each pouch with a pocket tissue pack before display turns them from a sewing project into an immediately usable product. That detail increases impulse purchases noticeably.
Caring for the finished pouch
A fabric tissue pouch washes easily in a cool machine cycle. Pre-washing your fabric before cutting removes shrinkage and colour bleed risk before the pouch is ever used. If the outer shell uses a vibrant digitally printed fabric, wash it inside out on a gentle cycle to protect the print. For a full guide on keeping prints looking their best through repeated washes, the article on how to wash digital print fabric without fading covers everything worth knowing.
The tissue pouch is a small project that earns a permanent place in your rotation. It's fast enough to batch in an afternoon, practical enough to use every day, and pretty enough that people ask where you bought it. Cut a stack of rectangles at once, iron them all together, and sew through them in a production line. Twenty pouches in a couple of hours is realistic, and that's a solid tray of stock for any market table.